Well, it took a full week, but we are all getting into the 21 day meditation challenge now, here at our home. This morning Roxy made it to savasana and even stayed in position for quite a while after Mitch and I were done and out of the room. This is a real reminder for all of us…routine and repetition go a VERY long way towards forming new habits!
I have gotten a few great tidbits out of this meditation challenge. The one I will be focusing on today, and tonight in 7pm class, is the concept of positive and negative input. In short, Chopra says that our days are filled with a lot of negative input (stress from work, finances, family, injury, illness, world news, just to name a few) This input wreaks havoc on our physical, mental and spiritual health! The only way to combat it is with POSITIVE input. This is found in the things that bring us joy! Many of us have to go out and find and make that positive input happen. Whether it’s holding a baby, bonding with nature, a great workout, playing an instrument, painting a picture, watching a sunset (and I could go on and on) there is MUCH positive input for all of us IF we take the time to seek it out.
For the past few weeks, we have been repeating 4 important questions during yoga class.
Who am I?
What do I want?
What is my purpose
and most importantly,
What makes me happy?
Letting images, thoughts and words come freely after asking those questions, helps us answer them HONESTLY. Learning what makes us happy allows us to fill our free time with POSITIVE input, hence counterbalancing all the negative input.
Chopra also suggests at the end of the day we ask ourselves what was the BEST part of our day, helping us to focus even more, and end the day, on the good stuff!
Whether you are at home, at work, coming to class tonight, participating in the meditation challenge or not–try giving some quiet time to these important questions and I promise you will not only learn more about who you are at your core, but also bring more joy into your life, which will make you healthier!
THIS, is just one of the quiet ways in which meditation enriches our lives and improves our health and well-being. Always, but especially during these crazy times in our world, we need that more than ever!
NAMASTE